Salt Lake City relaxes rules on accessory dwelling units
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
The Salt Lake City Council voted unanimously Tuesday evening to allow property owners to build accessory dwelling units (ADUs) without obtaining prior approval from the Planning Commission.
Why it matters: It's a move city leaders say could bring additional housing inventory to Utah's capital city.
- Changes to city code regarding ADUs come as Salt Lake City faces rising rental costs amid a crushing housing shortage.
The big picture: City leaders aimed to strike a balance between making it easier for homeowners to add the units to their properties and also mitigating impacts on neighborhoods.
Details: The council voted to uphold the owner-occupancy requirement for properties with ADUs.
- Other changes include allowing detached ADUs up to 1,000 square feet and loosening parking requirements with few exceptions.
- The council also intends to allocate a one-time sum of $1 million to fund a program to help eligible residents construct ADUs and collect data on the number of such units being built, the challenges to constructing them and how it affects neighborhoods.
What they're saying: "I think this is the right thing to do," Salt Lake City Councilmember Alejandro Puy, who represents District 2, said before the full vote. He added that he would have preferred removing the owner-occupancy requirement. "I wish we didn't stop there by keeping that requirement in there."
- Councilmember Ana Valdemoros, who represents District 4, said the council will revisit the owner-occupancy requirement in three years.
- " …maybe we can open the floodgates," she said.
- Proponents of the owner-occupancy requirement said they believe companies and corporations would purchase single-family homes, turn them into multi-family properties and raise rent prices in their respective neighborhoods.
Zoom out: After Seattle removed its owner-occupancy requirements in 2019, the number of ADUs in the city has more than tripled, a recent report found.
Context: Last year, a Thriving in Place report found that low-income families are being priced out of Salt Lake City and can no longer find affordable neighborhoods in town.
- Half of all Salt Lake City renters spent more than 30% of their income on housing, per the report.